Monday, November 23, 2009

Invasion Loses Me as Naval History Instead of Sea Adventure

Book Review: Invasion by Julian Stockwin

By Alan Eggleston, writer, editor, and bookseller

In October, Julian Stockwin released the 10th in his Thomas Kydd sea adventure series: Invasion. Stockwin is a fine writer of sea adventures, but in this story, he loses his way as a writer of naval history.

In Invasion, Britain worries over its imminent invasion by France's madman Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, and an American inventor, Robert Fulton, seems to be England's greatest hope. He's known to be in France trying to sell Napoleon on the new war concept of submarine and torpedo warfare, and it becomes the mission of Commander Thomas Kydd and his best friend, Renzi, to entice Fulton to come to Britain and bring his technology to England's aid.

I'm not big on stories the central theme of which is built around the idea of a past famous person interacting with the book's main fictional character, and I wasn't keen on it here. The Thomas Kydd series of sea adventures are full of the excitement of sea battles and the dangerous life on tall ships at sea. Miring these rich, deep characters in the false sense of meeting up with real people with whom they likely would not have met get in the way for me. In the case of Renzi, it works all right, and Stockwin moves Kydd's interaction into sea action, so it's not too distasteful. However, I read the Thomas Kydd sea adventures for sea adventure, not not naval engineering.

One thing I'll say about Stockwin is that I respect his research and his use of the details he uncovers and uses in his works of fiction. I trust him to make good and accurate use of facts. At the end of the book, he tells us that Fulton was indeed in France at the time and did work on submarine and torpedo warfare, then went on to England, where he continued his work. For that reason, I am able to slightly suspend my disbelief.

If you read Stockwin because you appreciate his fine use of detail and like his excellent narrative in sea battles, you'll enjoy some of that here, but a good part of the book is taken up in meeting up with Fulton in France and with developing weapons in Britain. It made me miss his earlier works on Kydd in the Caribbean and the journey around the world, and it reminded me somewhat of his work on Kydd in North America while stationed in the United States.

I haven't given up on Stockwin's earlier storytelling of adventure. I'm sure he will bring it back in books to come. He's a fine author.

(Book links through my online book store, through which I may receive commissions for sales. No recompense received for passing on author information.)

Thursday, November 05, 2009

Author Christoper Moore News

Christoper Moore, Humor Author, Posts First Two Chapters of Next Book

Christopher Moore yesterday sent out an e-mail to fans announcing some exciting news:

First, he's posted the first two chapters of his new book Bite Me (due in stores April 1) for fan previews.

Second, for those of you in the East, he's doing an “evening with” event with the New Jersey Shakespeare Company on November 19th. He will talk, they will do dramatic readings from Fool with "real Shakespearian actors," and he will sign books. Moore says there will be "swag, t-shirts and hats, maybe even some early copies of Bite Me, if they’re ready by then. This is a one-time event, with no rehearsal, so it should be strange and fun."

Moore is a humor writer of such popular titles as Fool: A Novel; Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal; Bloodsucking Friends: A Love Story; A Dirty Job: A Novel; You Suck: A Love Story; The Stupedist Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror; and Fluke: Or, I Know Why the Winged Wale Sings, among others. My personal favorites are Lamb and Fluke. Moore has a great rapport with his fans, and if you write to him he's been known to write back!

(Book links through my online book store, through which I may receive commissions for sales. No recompense received for passing on author information.)


Monday, November 02, 2009

The Lost Symbol Is Typical Dan Brown Suspense


Review: The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

I am a big Dan Brown fan. No one paces a suspense story like Dan Brown, keeping you surprised right up to the end. He has kept up that pace in all his past books. Just when you thought you knew who done it, it wasn't until the last chapter that you found out who had really done it. However, he breaks that well developed writing style in The Lost Symbol, and I have to say, I was disappointed.

Don't misunderstand me; The Lost Symbol is full of surprises and suspenseful moments. The writing is still excellent and the pace is still brisk. My attention was rivetted after about the 15th short chapter. And to be fair, there are twists and turns in the plot right up to the end as Dan Brown leads you to the whereabouts of the lost symbol. Yet, I felt let down after the conflict between the protagonist and antagonist was resolved and chapters still remained. Oh, yes, we still have to point out the whereabouts of that pesky "lost" symbol.

If you like mystery, if you adore thriller or suspense, if you aborb conspiracies and like to untangle knotty plot twists, The Lost Symbol will be a good read for you. You may even find some of the plot holes don't matter so much -- like the tiny matter of the head of CIA security taking the lead in investigating internal U.S. security issues: Isn't that the perview of Heartland Security or the FBI? There were a few more little iniquities that bothered me, but I allowed to go unresolved because the story was too good to spoil with mere nits.

However, if you aren't a fan of Dan Brown's other works, you aren't likely to like this one, either.

Review Disclosures
(Book links above through my book store, for which I may receive commissions for sales.)



Friday, October 09, 2009

Schuler Books Stays Ahead of the Curve

Schuler Books Announces Vook and Espresso Publishing
By
Alan Eggleston, writer, editor, and bookseller

Schuler Books, independent bookseller in West and Mid Michigan, showed its moxy as a leading Michigan bookstore this week when it announced the Vook and the Espresso Book Machine.

Vooks are traditional books enhanced with video from Simon & Schuster, available for download to your computer, iPhone, or iPod Touch. Titles that Schuler Books mentions include Promises by Jude Deveraux, 90 Second Fitness Solution by Pete Cerqua, and Return to Beauty: Old World Recipes For Great Radian Skin by Narine Nikogosian. Links mentioned on their Facebook page look like downloads originate through Booksense, an association of independent booksellers.

Espresso Book Machine is on-demand publishing featuring the Google library and other possible sources. You will be able to order and walk out the door with a freshly printed book in around 10 minutes. No more concerns over being out of stock or out of print -- find the title and print it off! Schuler Books will have the only Espresso Book Machine in Michigan besides the University of Michigan. Cost is expected to be comparable to a mass-produced version, but there's no shipping!

See
Schuler Books Facebook page or their Book Weblog for more information.

I once worked at Schuler Books, but I received no compensation for this article.

Twitter me:
@AlanEggleston or @a-copywriter

Review Disclosures

Booksville Disclosure Policies for Book and Product Reviews and Articles
By Alan Eggleston, writer, editor, and bookseller

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) now requires that I (and any other blogger and reviewer) disclose any relationship that I have with an author, book publisher, or product manufacturer when I write about their book or product.

Here are the practices by which I write reviews and articles for Booksville and BizBooksPlus:
  • I never accept money or incentives to do a review on a book or product. I read the books, use the products, and write the reviews or articles on my own.
  • I usually pay for the books and products about which I write or review; however, occasionally an author, publisher, or manufacturer may send or offer to send me a book or product to review. I will state that in the article or review; otherwise, you may assume I purchased the book or product with my own money.
  • When I create a link to a book or product in an article or review, I will get paid a commission if you purchase the book or product via my link, which goes through my online bookstore and Amazon or other affiliate store. If the link does not materially benefit me, I will state so. (I also use links for SEO ranking purposes.)
  • When I write a review or mention a book or product in an article, I will give you my unvarnished opinion, regardless of how I got the book or product. I don't write reviews professionally, so it's very likely that I purchased the book or product because I found it interesting, and I am writing about it because I wanted you to know about it. However, it's likely I will tell you what I like about it, and if there are things about it I find strongly disagreeable, I will tell you those, too. No author should assume that if they send me a book that they will receive a winning endorsement -- I won't feel obligated to provide one.
Note that while the FTC now requires these disclosures, I am fully supportive of them. You, as a reader, should know whether a reviewer or writer is being influenced by financial or material interests. The biggest problem for bloggers and other reviewers is knowing how to explain their practices and where to position them. Feel free to give me your feedback on this disclosure either in the comments section or by e-mail.

Thank you!

Alan Eggleston, president
e-Messenger Consulting Corp.
Writer, Editor, SEO, and Bookseller

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Have You Moved from Print to Electronic?

e-Books: Prices Too High?
by Alan Eggleston, writer, editor, bookseller

There's an interesting discussion about the price (not to be confused with the cost) of e-books on two blogs:
The essence of the debate is: Is the price is too high when the cost is so low? In this case, price is what the consumer pays to buy the e-book, cost is the financial burden of bringing the e-book to the consumer.

As an avid reader but not a fan of reading on a screen, high cost would be a barrier to my purchasing e-books on a regular basis. I prefer paper. What do you think?

Saturday, January 03, 2009

What's in a Title?

Book Titles, the Author's Biggest Struggle?
by Alan Eggleston, writer, editor, and bookseller

If you're an author struggling with the title to your new bestseller-to-be, take a few lessons from the masters.

A book by British newspaper columnist and author Gary Dexter tells the story behind the titles of 50 landmark books. In Why Not Catch-21?, Dexter details the struggle to choose just the right number of catches to arrive at 22. Interesting story! First readers of Utopia by Thomas More thought it was a story of a real place, but there were clues in the title and the storytelling that discerning readers came to understand and that you can learn from. Why did Melville call his groundbreaking work "Moby Dick" instead of just "The Whale"? This and more is spelled out.

The full title of the book is Why Not Catch-21? The Stories Behind the Titles and it fully explains the work. As the preface explains, the book is based on a weekly column Dexter wrote for The Sunday Telegraph called "Title Deed." I want to do some research and see if it's still running, because it provides fascinating insight into how authors think and work, and how books are created.


  • Update: I Googled "Title Deed Sunday Telegraph" and although I received several links, all showed truncated results hidden behind "High Beam Research" which requires membership for full review. You will, however, see examples from the column on the Title Deed link above.
First published in 2007, I found it as a paperback this weekend at Schuler Books in Grand Rapids, Michigan. ISBN: 9780711229259. It's a good read and offers an interesting view of the thought process behind authors and their books.

Review Disclosure

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